Raising Fences
Commander Shockwave says, "Autobots detected crossing northern perimeter, nearing Polyhex." Bonecrusher says, "So close?" Commander Shockwave says, "Decepticons, mobilize." Catechism says, "As ordered, Commander." Fusillade says, "En route." Bonecrusher says, "On my way!" Cinderblock says, "Huh, wha? Oh...alright. On route." Scourge says, "Rodimus certainly doesn't waste any time, does he?" Trooper Fleet says, "As you command, sir." Northern Crossroads The cold wind from the Swamp to the north chills the air at the intersection, where two roads going in opposite directions meet. One leads west to Polyhex, the Decepticon stronghold long infamous for its harsh treatment of prisoners. The other runs north-south to the Cybertronian Swamplands and the Northern Highway to the south. The bridge that once crossed the swamp is gone, leaving no way across now other than by air. Faint, eerie sounds seem to filter down from the distant Swamp when the wind briefly calms, but disappear before they can be identified. Commander Shockwave says, "I feel.. disappointed hostilities did not resume first with the Quintessons, Scourge." Scourge says, "You, with an emotional feeling?� I think someone should record this moment for posterity." Commander Shockwave says, "Professional disappointment." Scourge says, "Oh... of /course/." Fusillade says, "It's the training sim all over again. Two dinobots and a Matrix holder." Commander Shockwave says, "Beta Wing, utilize attack pattern A-55-6 Scorched Earth. Do not allow the Dinobots to get airborne." Grimlock descends as the Autobots begin to setup, landing with another heavy impact, this time on a bit of a peak overlooking the area where he get a good field of view. He dosen't seem ready to go charging in just -yet-, taking stock of the situation for once. Several of those Autobots that he'd been tormenting...er...training come under his watchful gaze then as he produces his energon sword and looks towards the sky. "Not be long now." Sludge lands on the surface with a colossal thump, sending a slight quiver through the ground around him. Straightening he stands tall, clenching and unclenching is fists in anticipation. He smiles, a smile slightly more unpleasant than his normal firendly grin. Slightly more... feral. Cinderblock says, "Roger." Fusillade says, "They just landed on the ground.� We'll see to it that they stay there." Cinderblock says, "Fusillade, Catechism, try to focus on Grimlock. I'll work on fatty." Fusillade says, "Oh lovely." Catechism says, "Grimlock? Got it." Within the EDC AF-27 , Rose Washburn slingshots over the heads of the Autobot/EDC forces, three AF's flying in formation, "Alright Angels, you remember the drill, split with your wingmate and do what you do." she pulls back sharply on the stick, taking the fighter directly behind her in the formation with her as the other two peel off to the sides, taking up patrolling routes to be ready to engage. Fusillade says, "I demand a refit if we are to take over Alpha Wing's duties." Fusillade says, "Engaging." Recoil says, "Incoming." Michael Briar glides in and gives a wave of understanding towards Rodimus. "You got it Prime." he calls through his external speakers. He looks towards the Warthogs and Junkipults. "Alright crews, let's get set up ASAP! We'll be having company soon and I want a welcome mat set out for them." he calls out over the radio. He looks up towards Angel Squad and is about to say something, but they did what he was going to ask before he asked it. Not bad, not bad at all. He pulls his rail cannon rifle from his rear maglock and swings it around to rest comfortably in his hands. The Warthogs and Junkipults beigin to setup. Several of the Warthogs transform and help the operators of the junkion artillery set up. With the added strength, it's much easier for them to do their jobs. The other Warthogs set up positions nearby and within easy reach to guard the artillery units with their weapons pointed towards the sky ready for anything that'll come their way. A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock) comes in from Polyhex's airspace, and immediately begins to angle down towards the gathering autobots, his vulcan already beginning to cycle. Cinderblock says, "Commander. I have sighting on Artillery. Do you want me or Fusillade to divert from target to knock it out?" Commander Shockwave says, "Describe enemy emplacements." Cinderblock says, "Human exo-armor and junkion catapults." Commander Shockwave says, "New orders." Commander Shockwave says, "Beta Wing, destroy enemy artillery." Commander Shockwave says, "Alpha and Gamma Wings fly aerial support." Trooper Fleet says, "As you command, sir." About a dozen gumby Autobots are also running around like chickens with their proverbial heads cut off, trying to aid the humans in setting up all the artillery they've brought. A single anti-aircraft emplacement is already loaded and ready to begin firing, the others are still being unpacked from their transport units. F-35B zooms in. Doing Alpha Wing's job? That's fine by her. She was originally in Alpha Wing, after all. Also, this will be a fine thing to rub in Ballistic's face if she ever sees him again. Ah, those Alphas, where are they when the real fighting starts? She scans the area, looking for Grimlock. Looks like she hasn't had her daily dose of pain yet. ...wait, artillery? Aw, shoot. Oh well. Catechism says, "Sir... I am afraid that there are no Alphas in the area to fly aerial support." Pyramid Jet (Fleet) is a speedy little so-and-so, but he still has to come all the way from Nightseige, and he's still just a Seeker. The whole flight over he's been listening carefully to the radio, trying to get an idea as to what as to what he's flying into. Then he comes within sensor range and learns that it's much worse than he expected. And apparently he is expected to fly aerial support for the Betas... alone. Well, he'll do his best, but as speedy a little so-and-so as he may be, he still has his limitations. Commander Shockwave says, "Command appreciates your initiative in serving as a multi-role fighter." Skirting along the eastern edges of the area in question, the horizon hugging silouette of a long craft might be visible. Fusillade doesn't bother to dive in just quite yet, still stashing the last of her ruminations generated during patrol. A glazed glint washes over the blackness of cockpit windows as orders come in over radio. Dutifully, the Lancer dips one wingtip, and peels toward the Dinobot leader, sending out one last hopeful radar ping that the others will pick up on. "This is going to suck," she utters to herself as she lines up for a run on Grimlock. "He's gotta be ordering me to do this on purpose..." Bomb bay doors snickt open, but at a new set of orders, the femme utters a hallalujah, and turns on wingtip just enough to flash Grimlock with the gloss white of underbelly. "Anti-air emplacements, Exo-suits. Got it." She barrels down upon the emplacements, hydraulics a-thunder as she swings past, laying down a spread on the nearest human-containing item she spies -- which happens to be Michael. You strike Exo-Suit with Midair Negotiations. Cinderblock says, "Fusillade, form up behind me. I'll try to draw their anti-air fire across the axis, Catechism, follow up on Fusillade's six and take out stragglers..." A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock) turns in towards the artillery, his vulcan cannon whirring to horrible life as he drowns the ground near the artillery position in one steady flood of weapon's ballistic fire. He seems to be aiming primarilly for the anti-air resources the artillery unit might possess. Soundwave says, "Scourge." Bonecrusher arrives in the wake of the Seekers, though considerably later than them, since he, for his part is not a fast jet. He remains in the sky for now, surveying the soon-to-be battlefield. Bonecrusher says, "What are my orders?" Soundwave says, "Be aware. Rodimus Prime is referring to a weaker target as a distraction. Their tactic is to drive you from the sky until more artillery arrives." Commander Shockwave says, "Destroy all artillery." Recoil says, "Does that include orbital cannons?" Recoil says, "Acknowledged.� I'm still a ways off, but I'll be there!" Michael Briar hears his threat indicators pinging and says, "Damn it! I'm under fire! All EDC units, open fire the second you have targets!" He brings his arms up to block several rounds that punch hard against his forearm armor but do little but dent the plating and blow a chunk off the paint. Michael brings his rail cannon rifle up to aim at the flying con but instead, he launches himself up into the air. If he's lucky, he can lose the con and find bigger fish to fry. He calls out, "Angel Squad, you've got seeker pollution, see about clearing the air." He brings his rifle up, now that he's more maneuverable in the air, and fires out a quick burst of rail cannon rounds from his weapon towards the B-1B Lancer. You evade Exo-Suit 's heavy rail gun attack. Within the EDC AF-27 , Rose Washburn guides her fighter through a tight turn, her wingmate hanging right with her as the Decepticons come pouring in, "Alright, Angel Squad, lets provide air cover for those artillery pieces, take out those flyer's. Angel 4, you and me are on the Bomber. That one's going to be the biggest threat to the ground forces." with those words the AF noses over and starts skating across the sky towards the bomber, "Cover me 4, Angels, WEAPONS FREE!" she flicks over to vulcan cannons and opens fire as she strafes the flight path of the bomber. EDC AF-27 strikes you with Ballistic for 15 points of damage. Cinderblock says, "Damnit. We need coverage!" Grimlock steps back slightly as Fusillade roars in towards him, raising one hand as if to shield himself, though chances are that a collision between him and the bomber would have bad results for the bomber...unless she's been reinforced. Chances are...this isn't the case. Instead, she veers off at the last second to attack the human exo suit, and that's good enough for him for now, turning to peer back towards the artillery position that is, predictably, starting to fall under fire. It's obvious he's not happy about the situation...he hates protecting things. He'd rather just be let loose and do what he does best, but...well, this is what happens when you let humans on the battlefield! In his mind anyway. He dosen't give any words, just gestures towards Sludge, and takes to the air, anti gravs roaring audibly as he backtracks, heading towards the position and producing his blaster weapon in his free hand. He still says nothing, even as he raises it, coming in -right- behind Cinderblock...on his 'six' and unleashes a thin blast from his weapon at the Decepticon's exhaust. Grimlock strikes A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock) with Blaster . And so it begins. Rodimus already has his rifle in hand, scanning the air for threats to the artillery and the soldiers setting it up. It seems the General and Angel wing are already on station, defending against the large terran bomber he recently learned was named: Fusillade. The Autobot eader continues scanning, seeing at least three other airborne targets in the area. He chooses the closest, which happens to be Catechism, and takes careful aim for her, before firing a pair of low powered bolts from his rifle. Rodimus Prime strikes F-35B with Photon Eliminator: . Sludge's head turns to watch the Decepticons as they approach and attack, maintaining their positions in the air. Oh well, if the seekers won't come to the Dinobots, the Dinobots'll go to the seekers. Still grinning that feral grin, Sludge lifts himself into the air, rising rapidly towards a location that should intersect a random Decepticon target's flightpath. He raises one mighty hand and strikes out, intending to bring his victim down to Ear- Cybertron. Sludge strikes Pyramid Jet (Fleet) with Gut-Punch. Cinderblock says, "Grah! Damnit. ...Fusillade, stay on target! Don't let them side track you. We're not here to get embroiled in the kind of fight they want..." Fusillade rumbles grimly, "They were going to choose me anyway, Cinderblock. It was inevitable. I shall attempt to wrest myself free." Pyramid Jet (Fleet) continues flying in at all due haste, trying to catch up with the land-attack units. So great is his concentration on straight-as-an-arrow speed that he completely misses that GREAT BIG DINOBOT flying up at him. The impact of the fist immediately sends the Seeker into a spin, forcing him to transform just to remain airborn. He fights on despite the fear evident on his face, and as much as he'd prefer to go after the one who just hurt him, he's here to try to keep the Betas in the air, and that means trying to distract the ones attacking them, instead. Even as Fleet changes course, heading for, of all people, Grimlock, he sighs in resignation. This is not the battle he would have chosen. As soon as the pastel wonder is in range of the Dinobot leader he takes aim, and fires. Fleet strikes Grimlock with Shoulder-Mounted Laser Rifle. The Theme Tonight is: Progressive Rock Bands! As such, Recoil appears as a blip on the edge of the territory; to say that he is in a Rush would be an underestatement, but those nice seeker engines can only churn so fast before things start to break. From his semi-distant vantage, he can see the fighting erupt already, as if the horrors of war has taken up residence in a Dream. Theater would be hard-pressed to reproduce such a glim reality. Alas, the Genesis of all conflict factors out at the feet of those who lead. Yes! As such, Recoil banks, horizontally perpendicular, and heads for the artillery. (No attack this round, attack_OK for the Bots/Bot-groupies) A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock) grunts as the bolt hits him, and he begins to trail brackish blue-grey smoke. "...damn dinobot scum..." He modifies his attack vectors, trying to make larger climbs and dives, and use what little bit of speed he can to evade Grimlock as he continues to pour unhappiness on the artillery and troops below. He does line up a shot on a small cluster of catapults, "....Fox Two!" Two air-to-ground rockets launch out towards the artillery below! He then immediately goes into as powerful a climb as he can manage, trying to keep Grimlock from getting a chance for another easy shot. Fences. The artillery represented fences to keep Fusillade and other Decepticons from the silken caress of the skies, shrinking the area in which she could wander with impunity. The humans have even begun to stray from their backyard, casting their lot with the Autobots. The biting whistle of metal slugs cruelly propelled against the air and closing fast catches the attention of the bomber, a volley of blips coming up hard on her left. The Lancer sits on her tail, all four afterburners igniting as she vaults toward the blackness of space to evade the railgun slugs. And then, the pack hunting begins. Rose's fighter slashes across the sky in a metallic streak, and that nasty missile fints its way to Fusillade's keft wing cowling. An orange cloudburst is followed by the hail of armor fragments raining down from the sky. "Clever wretches," she hisses out. "I may be delayed, but I will not be dissuaded." She snaps off a charged shot toward Rose's plane-suit thingie, before diving back down toward the ground, trying to shake the EDC troopers so she could return to her flanking position on the still rising artillery placements. You strike EDC AF-27 with Standard Issue Argon Disruptor. F-35B is really confused. Rodimus's shot didn't hurt all that much, although it did slow her down a little. Is she supposes to go after Grimlock? Is she supposed to go after the artillery? Well, Grimlock did shoot Cinderblock, and he has a better chance of taking out the artillery than her. In that spirit, she goes after Grimlock, hoping to distract him from her wingmates. F-35B strikes Grimlock with Taser. Hoverjet flies in slowly from above, observing the chaos below and assessing where he can be of most value... Bonecrusher cautiously weaves through the air, which is filled with the Autobot's fleshling allies and - worse yet? - Dinobots who think Autobots are allowed to fly (the audacity!). Take out the artillery, Shockwave said? Bonecrusher lands right on top of a piece of it, transforming in mid-air, and begins doing what he was built for - bulldozing! Bonecrusher transforms into his bulldozer mode. Sometimes, that twinkle in the Cybertron sky isn't some far-off star. Sometimes, perhaps too rare an occasion as some would critique, the twinkle is the light reflecting off the polished purple finish of a 35-foot long robot ray gun. Shockwave slides effortlessly from the heavens, his yawning cannon maw focused for the debacle on Polyhex's front yard. "An infestation," he considers as his formidable sensory array detects alien lifeforms present upon the plating of Cybertron. Descending, his transformation sequence engages. He unfolds, becoming the embodiment of Decepticon military theory. Shockwave's lone eye blinks into existence, casting its icy yellow stare upon the aerial forms zipping across the lower atmosphere. He presses against his anti-gravity generator, eliciting a sudden burst downward before leveling off completely. Angel Leader ventures close and Shockwave lashes out. His arm swings ahead, a powerful closeline in close-quarters to handle this pesky EDC craft. Shockwave unfolds into an imposing robot form. Shockwave strikes EDC AF-27 with Clothesline!. Grimlock may not be as quick and agile as the aerial form of Cinerblock, but he has the maneuverng advantage of being able to look over a static position that the Decepticon wants to get at. Whether he likes it or not, he -has- to keep swinging back in range of the Dinobot Commander, and that's exactly where Grimlock waits. Eve as the two shots from Catechism and Fleet snap in towards him, one impacting his left forearm, the other hitting his chest and seeming to deflect off mostly, he turns calmly in mid-air and gestures for Sludge's benefit once more, but says nothing. The Autobot radio is where he does is talking for now. Without a word, he turns in place then...blatantly ignoring Fleet and Catechism both. That's Sludge's job for the moment. He just waits until Cinderblock releases his two missiles, and then fires again, filling the air with a storm of energy blasts as his blaster pistol rattles away noisily as it discharges the angry energy projectiles. Grimlock misses A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock) with his Blaster attack. Within the EDC AF-27 , Rose Washburn yanks the fighter hard to starboard as a weapon discharge is reported too late, the discharge splashes across the armor of the fighter, blackening it and leaving a dancing wake behind it. A quick glance at damage indicators states that the fighter is still in fine fettle however, and as such Rose heels the fighter over in an inverted immelman, intending to head back towards Fusillade until something physically slams into the fighter. "Holy -crap- what the hell was that." she snaps in a brief moment of panic as the fighter is sent spinning upwards. Several tense moments pass as she fights the controls, hitting the 360 degree maneuvering thrusters in rapid succession until finally she's managed to level out, "Got a big ugly up here, General, no way I'll be able to face him down sir!" she snaps through EDC lines, "That Bomber is still going down, I'm sticking with it." and with that she heels the fighter over, trailing smoke from a few of the thrusters in a blue cloud behind her, and makes a run on Fusillade again using the axis laser of the fighter to try and tag the right engine pod and unbalance her maneuvering capabilities. EDC AF-27 strikes you with Laser for 13 points of damage. Sludge's optics flicker as his intended opponent merrily ignores him after recovering from his blow. Well, alright, two can play at that game. Casting a look about for new targets, he spots Bonecrusher making a move on the artillery, the rascal. Positioning himself above the bulldozer, he deactivates his flight systems and drops to the ground... and Bonecrusher. Hah, ignore /Sludge/ will you, Fleet! Hey, wait a minute... Cinderblock says, "Blast. Commander, my payload isn't reaching its target. I can only do so much damage with ballistics. Someone needs to get Grimlock away!" Sludge strikes Bulldozer (Bonecrusher) with Biggest feet in the Dinobots!. Trooper Fleet says, "I've been trying, but I don't have the firepower to dent him!" Cinderblock says, "-Ram- Him." Recoil says, "I've got pulse compression cannons, you may not have to." Michael Briar says over the radio, "I've got your back Angel Leader." He sees Shockwave being a bully towards the AF-27 and kicks on his jets to maximum thrust. He gets thrown in...well, the 'bottom' of his exo-suit as he closes the distance. "Shockwave, we have a date, rememberer?! I said I was coming for you, well here I am!" he calls out while getting closer and closer. The Glaive II hooks his rifle to the maglock on his back leaving his hands free. He rockets up towards the large purple decepticon with his arms reach up to grasp and pull at the head forcibly. Not trying to break it mind you, just rip it off. Does it work? We'll soon find out. The junkion batteries begin to be pounded, junkions and parts going flying and more than a few warthogs being taking the shots that would otherwise end this mission. Warthog's begin firing back towards the cons attacking the junki-pults sending rockets, lasers, and solid projectiles into the air with explosive force. Each pilot determined as hell not to fail the autobots or the EDC in this battle. Exo-Suit misses Shockwave with its twisting the head off attack. A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock) hrms and adjusts his angled path, heading higher for a moment. Conserve ballistics and ordinance til a clear shot can be managed...that leaves... A grouping of packets detaches from underwing, falling towards the ground below. They're bright green cannisters, marked in Decepticon graffiti...which reads 'Hot time tonight!' He then peels off, to prepare for another ballistic run... Recoil says, "Anything that belongs to a group that begins with 'Dino'." Empiric proof of hypothesis - Dinobot feet hurt. "Get off me, fatso!" Bonecrusher protests. He shakes himself and transforms to throw Sludge off himself, then throws a fist at the Dinobot, all lime-green fury. That'll teach the Jurassic throwback to hassle a Constructicon at work! Bonecrusher transforms into his robot mode. Bonecrusher misses Sludge with his Fist of the Greenie attack. The hoverjet tilts back, its wings folding upwards at forty-five degree angles. Arms emerge from the aircraft's sides, and a pair of legs seperate from the aircraft's tail end. The nosecone folds back, revealing Earthscorch. Fleet is ignored this time around. He has mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it means he doesn't get hurt futher, but on the other, it means that he's not doing his job. He pulls his knees to his chest and executes a backflip before straigtening out and diving for Grimlock. His cockpit starts to lift as he begins to trigger his transformation... and then it returns to place. He rejects his plan to ram the Dinobot leader, not out of preservation, but out of pure spite towards Cinderblock. That geezer has lived too long already, and Fleet will be damned if he's sacrificing his life for the A-10! Instead, Fleet's weapons click over to solid ammunition and he lays down a round of fire before curling up and then darting away again. Fleet strikes Grimlock with Rail Gun. Earthscorch flies down at Grimlock, after taking a moment to check the situation on his radio. He puts out a foot and flips around in mid-air, so that the foot comes down at Grimlock's head. "Hello, idiot. Remember me? That last lesson you taught me didn't take. Got time for another?" Earthscorch strikes Grimlock with kick. "Incorrect." Shockwave responds cold as Angel Leader pulls away from engagement. "It is I who is coming for you." He turns aside, placing his unflickering glare square upon the shoulders of the approaching Glaive suit. Thick, armored fingers curl into a wrecking ball of a fist. He emits, "And you will find that I am no one to trifle with." Shockwave thrusts, delivering precise force to the spot between the two red optics of the Glaive's helmet unit. Shockwave strikes Exo-Suit with Punch. F-15 Seeker positions himself to follow in Cinderblock's wake; when the aforementioned seeker peels off, Recoil holds his course towards the Artillery that is either operational or closest to it. From his undercarriage, he drops a Solitary Shell, which detonates on first contact with a pulse compression wave; moderately strong in a confined area, but you've probably seen better displays elsewhere. "What we need are Subdivisions that will Resist the temptation of Limelight and complete their missions," he utters, falling back behind Cinderblock once more. A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock) hrms, "...yeah...they always want to be in the camera eye. Yyz! It really burns my circuits!" Commander Shockwave says, "Wipe them out." Commander Shockwave says, "All of them." The light of exchanged laser fire illuminates the eternal Cybertronian night as the engagement begins in earnest. Only peripherally aware of the clash of Briar and Shockwave far to her rear, Fusillade fights a losing race to get to the emplacements. She's almost slipped into low altitude attack pattern when the cauterizing pierce of laser fire punches through her nacelles, a billow of blue-black smoke trailing behind her. "Sharding frak-huffing smelt pellets!" Her air speed drops damatically, and she fishtails slightly. Wings begin to swing forward as she stabilizes herself, and she begins to angle to intercept Cinderblock. The Junion artillery catapaults earn her loving affections for now as she begins to dump a fifth of her payload. The stampede of clicks of disengaging clips can be heard, soon to be followed by a disquieting chorus of whistles. The flash of red lettering can be caught in passing, some of the text reading such charming sentiments as: 'How's my flying? Call 1800EATSH*T'. F-35B is startled. What, Earthscorch is actually here? Wow, that's spooky. Next thing she knows, the Junkions will start quoting... what was that old dead human called? Shake-a-spear? Something like that. She watches Earthscorch with great interest. Heh, did he really just kick Grimlock? Perhaps she has been unfair in judging him. Well, if their noble leader is going to occupy the prehistoric opposition, this little Beta is going to go in after the Autobot artillery. She arms her rockets, and with a cry of, "Fox two!" lets the rockets go. Bullets chip along Grimlock's upper torso from Fleet, and prompts him after a moment to raise his forearm to shield his face, in an annoyed sort of fashion not unlike what one might do to ward off a swarm of annoying mosquitoes. Only when it has passed, does he turn, just as Earthscorch comes in and kicks at his midriff, knocking Grimlock back several paces in mid-air before he steadies himself once again, glaring full on at the aerial Con. "You not go anywhere...Grimlock deal with you in minute!" he states, indicating with his other hand, as he puts his blaster away and retrieves his energon sword. No...he retrieves -two- of them in fact. Yes, both his regular one, and the spare backup he starts to keep. One sword in each hand, he looks very ninja-like for just a moment, until he abruptly turns and HURLS his spare sword forward, sending it arcing through the air in a windmilling pattern as it goes straight for Cinderblock's form. He's just not letting up on the old Decepticon. As for the canisters...well those aren't Grimlock's problem right now. He's just here to make sure the Cons don't get a free ride up here and keep spoiling their aim, not throw himself in front of the bombing runs. Grimlock strikes A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock) with Energon Sword. Within the EDC AF-27 , Rose Washburn shouts into her comms to the artillery, "Incoming! Get clear now!" she and her wingmate are closing fast, but with Fusillade already through dumping her first load, Rose is left with a dillemma, she can't stop the bombs already falling and the bomber is crippled. Now is the time to try and cripple another, such it is that with a flick of her wrist she noses the fighter to the port side, seeking to damage the escort craft that's been trailing the bomber. It's now that the first of the guided rockets extends from the belly of the fighter, "Hot tone, rocket away!" the weapon sparks and fires, leaving a long trail of smoke behind it as it attempts to introduce itself to the F-35B. EDC AF-27 strikes F-35B with Rocket. Michael Briar is glad that his head isn't in there. Otherwise it would hurt. He does feel the shock of the strike and his head is bounced around just the same. You can't strap 'everything' down in an exo-suit and expect it to work. Michael growls seeing his screen flicker but snap back after a second. "Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" One of his large engine pods splits at the tip and extends a plasma saber hilt which folds down within reach with a click of metal. Michael reaches up and grabs it just as the weapon flares to life. Michael swings it down hard towards Shockwave with a roar. A junkion artillery piece goes down, it's parts scattered across the battlefield. Several Warthogs guarding it get blown back to earth in buckets as well. Their pilots never even knowing what hit them from the explosion. Exo-Suit strikes Shockwave with plasma saber stab. Sludge hops backwards off Bonecrusher as the Constructicon transforms, landing neatly on his feet. He twists quickly as his foe then throws a fist in his direction, moving himself out of the way. What's that? Grimlock ordered him to attack the seekesr? Oh all /right./ Reaching out arm out behind him he locks onto Bonecrusher and, with a grunt of effort, swings around, lifting the Constructicon into the air and hurling him towards one of those pesky jets. No, he doesn't realise how unlikely this is to work, he's Sludge, remember? Sludge misses F-35B with his Bonecrusher! attack. Cinderblock says, "My weapon systems are out. Ammunition is depleted. I'm getting out of here before my guidance systems fail." Running in at full speed, a large Junkion can be seen wearing what looks like a yellow plastic suit. He smiles as he has a red helmet on and spot Grimlock taking on some Decepticons. Broadcast reaches into his insides and pulls out his magic microphone stand and begins to swing the cord around, like he is plotting something big and dangerous. "Audiobots! Audiobots! I am here! I am here! Get the platnum record deal signed!" He stance is rather unique and calm, almost like he was plotting to dance. "When a problem comes along... You must whip it. Before the cream sits out too long, You must whip it. When something's going wrong... You must whip it!" He releases the microphone in the air, trying to get Earthscorch. Broadcast strikes Earthscorch with Whip It. A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock) watches the sword go flying at him. He tries to angle away from it, but instead catches it right in the nose-cone, his weapon apparently malfunctions and goes into autofire. His missiles launching abberantly in all directions... He apparently attempts to readjust his flight, with the rather large sword sticking out of his fusilage rather lewdly, "...damnit...damnit...damnit..." "...no, you don't say..." He drops his last few cannisters of napalm and then moves to break away. Cinderblock begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from F-15 Seeker, F-35B , B-1B Lancer, EDC AF-27 . F-35B is now missing a large section of one of her wings. This is all right. Ever since she was rebuilt tougher, this F-35B has found that she doesn't mind flying with half a missing nearly so much as she used to. Certainly it makes the tight turns trickier, but it isn't too much of a worry. She glances at her assailant. A human-piloted craft? Bah. Spinning into a disdainful and defiant loop-de-loop, she circles around and makes another strafing run at the artillery. After all, she's got an air-to-ground job to do here, and she might as well do it while she's still got fight in her, especially since at least one of her wingmates already needs to bail out. The sizzling plasma blade collides with Shockwave's broad, blocky shoulders. It makes a minor triangular cut into his armor, the damage utterly minimal. The Decepticon stares dispassionately at Commander Briar, none too impressed. With a gleam of his eye, he simply retorts, "Very well." He kicks ahead, the cones of flames firing from his boots pushing him back for a mere foot of distance. Shockwave raises his left arm, the pronounced cannon barrel extending from his forearm housing pointed up. From its depths, comes an extension of roiling crimson energy locked into a slender form by a magnetic field. Shockwave suddenly darts to the side, his extended energy blade swinging down. Its arc takes it cleanly behind the Glaive, intending on shearing off those winged engines! Shockwave strikes Exo-Suit with Logical Outcome. F-15 Seeker's sensors pick up the sword that hits Cinderblock in the nosecone. Sadly, they also pick up the missiles that he's firing in all directions, including the one that hits him in a wing. "YOU CLUMSY RETARDED BAFOON!" he screams, the victim of friendly fire so early on. The damage is moderate, but he's not taking any chances. Recoil transforms into robot mode and descends from the skies (because there aren't too many other things you descend from) towards... oh, what the hell. Grimlock, I choose you! He lands like he's 10 kinds of badass in the area of the Dinobot commander, lines up his shot, then... kicks at Grimlock's shin. That'll learn 'im! A cruel smiles creeps across Fleet's face as Cinderblock retreats. Go away, geezer. The seeker seems to actually stand almost still in the air for a moment before he spreads his arms and falls backwards. The arms move to his sides and he falls like a bullet, then transforms into jet mode so as to gain even more momentum. His engines scream as he now attempts that which he considered not long ago: to ram right into Grimlock. The seeker transforms into robot mode, woo! Earthscorch is distracted from harrying the Dinobot (who was ignoring him anyways) by a microphone of all things. In fact it seems to have wrapped around his leg. He glares down at the Junkion. If there's something he hates more than humans it's Junkions. His face twists in a scowl and he says, "You want me to come down there? Fine!" He hurtles downward at Broadcast's face at full speed, using his bent knees as the focus of his attack. Earthscorch strikes Broadcast with blow. Bonecrusher is hurtled through the air towards Catechism! Uh-oh. Constructicons were never meant to fly. Well, actually, they are meant to fly if need be, just not in this way! Unable to stop, Bonecrusher braces for impact as he rapidly and involuntarily nears the Conehead, who /just so/ misses him with the loop she's flying. Ooph! The next moment, Bonecrusher lands rather ungracefully on the ground. Whum! With the light camo grey form of Catechism drawing the Angel's fire off of her, Fusillade rumbles in satisfaction. The metallic patter of Junkion coverfire continues to slowly peel off armor. Fusillade will not be dissuaded, even as another Warthog's minimissiles nail her rear radome and clip off the edge of one of her horizontal stabilizers. "Grrrrngh. Keep 'em offa me, I'm goin' for the cluster bombs!" she barks out, her two remaining good engines howling from the strain, seeking to punch another hole in the compromised artillery line. A trio of 'snickts', and the cool dark air of Cybertron rushes up against void within her bays left by the four cluster bomb units slung toward one of the more imposing flak cannons. Michael Briar yelps and feels his suit being sliced up like a roast. His screen flickers with a damage assessment and where his engines should be, he sees nothing. Just blank empty slots. Michael sees out of the corner of his eyes an engine pod spinning off either way and Michael says, "Well, that wasn't good." He begins falling backward, almost in slow motion. He calls out, "I'm not done yet fragger!" Now that he's clear, he calls up his targeting system and brings up a reticule on Shockwave. As soon as it turns red he fires sending several mini-missiles screaming out of hidden housings in his shoulder plates. The energon tipped rockets streak up towards Shockwave while Michael grins knowing he got the last attack out from the falling exo-suit. Exo-Suit strikes Shockwave with energon tipped mini-missile volley. Grimlock watches as Cinderblock takes off, satisfied that that's one less to deal with at least. Right about this point is when Fleet comes rocketing in, and the heavy *SCRUNCH* of impact rings out, sending him actually sprawling straight -upwards- as the jet collides with him, bits of flaked metal flying off as he gives a startled grunt. It's at the same time that Recoil's flying kick comes in towards him and impacts against his torso, starting to drive him back and towards the ground in mid-air. If this were DragonballZ, he would fly to the ground and impact in a huge explosion with debris everywhere. Instead, he gives a sudden, audible snarl, transforming within a few seconds...in mid-air, yes. For those few seconds, he lashes out with teeth in an attempt to grab onto some part of Recoil that's sticking out in reach, at the same time attempting to drop down -on- Fleet's merciless form as gravity takes over on his huge, fat aft, plummeting like a rock...attempting to bring both Decepticons with him, one above...and one below. Grimlock raises his arms and begins to fold up as he leans back, rising up into his fearsome Dinobot mode. Grimlock unleashes his Prehistoric Rampage attack on Fleet and Recoil, striking no one. Within the EDC AF-27 , Rose Washburn curses as the F-35 refuses to be dissuaded, and in fact pulls the one maneuver that would allow it to continue it's attack run and leave it completely outside of Rose's line of fire, "Dammit... we've -got- to drive them off the artillery! Drop the bomber now!" she flicks controls to the vulcan cannons locking back onto the Bomber with the F-35 out of play for a moment, "Slaggin' con's..." she mutters, "Concentrate fire on the remaining engine nacelle, I want that thing on the ground in pieces!" with that, she opens fire, sending a hail of lead through the air. You evade EDC AF-27 's Ballistic attack. Broadcast grins and tosses off his red helmet, almost in victory at Earthscorch. "You have been De-Evolutionized!" And now, with that said, he gets wacked in the face by the good old knees of Earthscorch. He shakes his head and wishes he kept his helmet on to make that impact feel easier. "For the luvva Mike," groans the Junkion hero as he starts to go for a quick recover at his target. "BGY-11 never gives up the fight... For the luvva warm apple pie.. for all that makes America the great country that she is... for baseball games..." He points his fists straight at Earthscorch and smiles as his arms make a sound like they are opening fire, but in reality, Broadcast is just swinging his fists at the same time. Broadcast strikes Earthscorch with Candygram. Sludge scowls slightly as his improvised projectile fails to meet its mark. There's a /reason/ he prefers to simply hit things, after all. He glances around again at the field of battle. Well, Grimlock said to go after the Seekers, so he'll just have to give it another try. With a mighty leap, he lifts into the air, rising as quickly as he can towards Fusillade and drawing his Energo Sword. Oops, seems he can't tell between 'seeker' and 'bomber.' Oh well. You evade Sludge's Energo Sword attack. The Autobot regulars race around the artillery, doing their best to keep it in working condition, but the relentless bombardment from the Decepticons is really beginning to take its toll. Most of the anti-aircraft units are smoldering in their own flames, while a few of the other siege weapons are still being hastily assembled. Rodimus Prime returns from...well, knowing him, probably saving some EDC or Autobot soldier from being crushed by melted armor and other such sundry scrap metal. Now that he's back in the thick of things he takes in the battlefield and frowns. Grimlock is dealing with at least two seekers, Fusillade has just released her cluster bombs, causing Rodimus to leap for cover as another compromised piece of artillery explodes into a fiery inferno. He sees Angel Wing and Sludge dealing with Fusi, and then turns to see General Briar in a rather heated battle with Shockwave. One that he doesn't appear to be getting the upper hand on until the volley of missiles is fired. He smirks to himself as Earthscorch and Broadcast tangle, then finally decides on his target: Catechism. She's been picking on the EDC fighters as well, and it's time to deal out a little more punishment. His rifle is aimed and a more potent burst is fired toward the seeker, in the hopes of dissuading her from any further interference. Rodimus Prime strikes F-35B with Photon Eliminator: . F-35B notes that a pesky human-piloted jet and a Dinobot are assailing Fusillade. Logically, Fusillade is much better at taking out artillery than Catechism is. Thus, Fusillade needs to be allowed to do her job. Also, the human-piloted jet, sadly, seems to be better at hitting things than the Dinobot. Then she gets hit by Rodimus Prime. Oooh, that hurt, as the shower of Catechism bits raining from the sky would seem to indicate. It doesn't matter, though. The bomber must be defended so that their goal can be accomplished. That in mind, Catechism snarls aloud, pain injecting static into her voice, despite her thoughts that talking to humans is a complete waste of time, "Get away from our bomber, creep-fins!" Then she opens up with her rockets. Earthscorch grimaces as the Junkion turns out to be a bigger fish to fry than he had hoped. Unfortunately, there's no moving on to his intended target until this threat is dealt with, so he jets backward, pulling out his automatic rifle. "Don't you Junkions have anything better to do than interfere with our war? Go DJ or something!" He unloads a barrage of flak whilst grumbling thusly. Pyramid Jet (Fleet) feels pleasure at having knocked Grimlock into the air, then terror when he realizes that Grimlock is now falling /towards/ him, then, as Fleet manages to fly out of the way of the falling Dinobot, relief so powerful that a very-brief laugh of joy escapes him before he recovers his wits. Success! Of a sort. The pastel Seeker briefly surveys the area and then grimaces when he realizes he still has to protect Fusillade. Since Catechism is going after the humans, that means he has to after... *gulp* Sludge. As Fleet flies, he transforms again to his sturdier robot mode before firing with his arm-mounted weaponry. Recent events have worn him down, however, and until he's had a bit of a pause, he doesn't have the energy for a very powerful attack. Earthscorch misses Broadcast with his automatic rifle attack. Fleet strikes Sludge with Shoulder-Mounted Laser Rifle . Bonecrusher picks himself off the ground. He transforms, heading back towards the artillery emplacements he's supposed to tear down, slag it! If some Dinobot is standing in his way, then so be it! Bonecrusher transforms into his bulldozer mode. Bulldozer (Bonecrusher) strikes Tyrannosaurus Rex with BULLDOZIN'!. Recoil is TOTALLY not going to take another chance on Grimlock after barely escaping the jaws of certain death. He shares a quick look with Fleet as if to say, "That was luck", then back-kicks into a hover. His widening perception catches Rodimus taking cheap-shots at Catechism. "Uh... no," he mutters and spins around. His legs kick up underneath him, sending his outstretched fists towards Rodimus' chin at a slight angle. Recoil misses Rodimus Prime with his Scatterstars attack. Explosives batter Shockwave's immense frame, enveloping him in a thick cloud of energon-assisted smoke. It is obstructive, the darkness disrupting his vision and the persistant radiation eroding his secondary scanners. Evasive action is necessary. He plummets, inky tendrils clinging to the fractured points of his armor. He is none too amused by this human's million-dollar persistence. Cradling his weapon with his hand, Shockwave aims for the still-operational Glaive. Capacitors within him drain in a snap, forcing focused energies through the length of his arm! Shockwave strikes Exo-Suit with UV Ray. The earlier assessment by the Decepticon Master about Fusillade not paying attention until she's been injured is, sadly, NOT being disproven tonight. The punishment from the Angel has snapped her to attention. All 146 feet of the damaged craft begins to bank for a third run, mentally lining up to make sure her next pass intersects with as many of those damned Autobots as possible. Working her way up the foodchain, it would seem. Human, Junkions, inanimate objects, Autobots -- there was probably something terribly skewed in that assessment. Fusillade doesn't spare the time to exult in her evasion of the Angel's latest volley, swinging wings back slightly to boost her speed, although the rising crimson blade of Sludge does earn a squeak of terror from the grey lizardskin patterned bomber, although she'd claim it was just the speed if ever asked. Yes. This run would be tricky, requiring her to arc wide... Another crack from the ground-to-air artillery sends a wingflap flying off, the razor edged panel corkscrewing midair before slicing down to lodge itself in the metal ground. Half of the next cluster bomb load goes wide, with two thirds of Fusillade's payload gone. <> Broadcast is pleased with his placing of his attack against Earthscorch and waits for the rifle to be aimed fully before he pulls himself out of the line of fire.... "Everyday I'm just making my rounds, just digging a home 6 feet underground. Sometimes it's hard to know what's real when you're not." He then grins at the whole scenerio as the rifle misses him, "I'm in a car underwater with time to kill, thinking back I forgot to tell you this; I didn't care that you left and abandoned me, what hurts more is I would still die for you." He goes for a swift kick against Earthscorch's rifle, trying to make his enemy drop it, or lose it. Broadcast strikes Earthscorch with Armor For Sleep. Within the EDC AF-27 , Rose Washburn throws the fighter into a hard barrelroll, the rocket that the F-35 fired sailing wide of it's mark, but not by much. It's seen exploding in midair not far off in front even as Rose heels the fighter back the other way, intent on sticking to the B-1B like glue, "You're not going to cause my allies any more trouble." with a flick, another rocket extends from the undercarriage. Rose curses as the wobbly nature of the Bomber's flight makes targeting harder, "Note to self... destroy the tail of the craft first." and that is exactly what she tries to do, the rocket launching with a satisfying *fwoosh* of ignited propellant. EDC AF-27 strikes you with Rocket for 16 points of damage. You are very conscious that your life is in serious danger in this battle. Michael Briar has to admit. That hurt a lot. The blast envelopes the Glaive II just when it is about to hit the ground and everything goes purple around Michael for a moment. Small globules of armor melt off the plating before they vaporize into gas. But as soon as it's over, the beam stops leaving Michael in a crater made by the weapon. It still smokes as the Glaive II begins moving. Damaged and flightless, but otherwise ok. Michael coughs, "Ok, reinforce wing joints next time." He brings his rifle from behind him and opens fire towards Shockwave. Now he'll have to order new engine pods. They aren't cheap! Exo-Suit misses Shockwave with its heavy rail gun attack. Tyrannosaurus Rex lands with an earth-shaking *BOOM* as both clawed feet hit the ground hard, Cybertron's surface buckling slightly in a small crater underneath the impact point. Momentarily annoyed at the fact that he didn't get either of the seekers, he is distracted as the Constructicon comes in, and then the big heavy bulldozer Blade catches him right in the side. The heavy *CLANG* is quickly followed by an audible, "Waugh!" as he tips over and crashes onto his side, a slight incline in the ground adding to the humiliation of it all as he tumbles end over end a few body lengths before coming to a halt. There's that brief moment of 'WTF just happened' in which he shakes his head and glances about in brief confusion, until he spots the bulldozer not far off. Confusion is replaced with instant rage a moment later as he hauls himself to his feet once more and straightens up, his tail slamming to the ground behind him with a heavy *THUD* of impact. "Grimlock THROUGH playing!" he announces then, teeth snapping shut once before he lumbers back up the incline towards the bulldozer, head lowered as if he were going to make a head-on collision. No. Instead, he suddenly rears up, one huge foot lashing out as he attempts to push that bulldozer blade out of the way, abruptly leaning waaay out over Bonecrusher's vulnerable Constructicon body, and his head dipping down with those horrible teeth in an attempt to crunch down on something vulnerable. Although a great deal of the bombs on this run do fail to impact with their targets, one lone projectile does manage to take out the last fully-assembled flak gun. No more anti-aircraft rounds, at least not for the time being. Rodimus frowns as he sees the last of their cover fire go up in smoke, considering his options. They have to hold until reinforcements arrive, and more artillery can be setup. The thought however, is cut short as Recoil comes barreling at him headlong. Rodimus sidesteps, executing a textbook 'OLE' maneuver before spinning in a complete circle, his right fist closing and his arm accelerating to deliver a wicked backhand to the back of Recoil's cranium. "General, How're you holdin up?!" Tyrannosaurus Rex strikes Bulldozer (Bonecrusher) with Crushing Bite. Sludge's attention is drawn to little flickers of light bouncing off his armoured frame and scattering around him. Hey, that's pretty. But where'd it come from? He turns, seeking the source of the display. Ohhh, it's that funny yellow guy. With a grin, Sludge darts towards him, spinning around in mid-air to try and land a kick on the seeker. Rodimus Prime strikes Recoil with Backhand Strike. Sludge strikes Fleet with Dino-kick!. Fleet is trying to find that balance between making himself a target and not getting hit, but apparently he's not zenning hard enough today (or too hard, depending on how you see it). He succeeds in the first goal, but that heavy kick from Sludge that shatters his cockpit and knocks him back several feet shows that he still has far to go for the second. The seeker darts upwards. He needs sky. He needs sky because he it's the best place from which to transform again and once more fly directly towards a Dinobot. This time, however, it is not a collision course, for he pulls away at the last moment, sending his rockets in his stead. Pyramid Jet (Fleet) strikes Sludge with Rocket. Earthscorch is kicked to the side as Broadcast flings a foot at him. His rifle goes flying from the impact, and he watches in dismay as it departs his grasp. He flies up into the air and transforms, his mini-missile launchers coming alive and quickly firing off a barrage of mini-missiles at his brutish foe. "I see there's no sense in trying to talk to you..." he comments as he lets loose. "All you Junkions know is gibberish." Earthscorch moves into the air, pulling in his arms and legs until they are one with his body. His wings fold forward while his nosecone folds down. Where Earthscorch once stood, there is only a hoverjet. Hoverjet strikes Broadcast with rapid-fire mini-missiles. Ah, the joys of being a bulldozer! Bonecrusher has moment of gloating as he sends Grimlock tumbling. That moment proves to be short, though. As the Dinobot retaliates, Bonecrusher experiences the downside of it - bulldozers aren't fast. The demolitionist doesn't have enough time to retaliate before those nasty, snappy teeth sink into his front. With an "ARGH!" he yanks himself free, transforming once again and slamming himself at the Dinobot. Bonecrusher transforms into his robot mode. Hypervelocity slugs riddle Shockwave! He even catches one so close to his optical sensor, the dent it leaves comically giving him a two-eyed look for the moment. However, it has done little to back the Decepticon off. Floating above the surface, like some kind of disapproving iron-clad god, he pauses. He reaches up, plucking the bullet from his facial plating. It falls from his fingers, hitting the scarred metal surface with a pronounced ping. Wisps of exhaust rising from his cannon, he presses it ahead to fire a thin purple lance from the depths of his capacitors. Single-minded obliteration of the Glaive was never Shockwave's intention. He desires to make good on his promise to Michael Briar.. and he'll do that first by cutting him out of that suit. Shockwave strikes Exo-Suit with Microwave Beam. Luck can only go so far. The sight of one of the emplacements going up into detonation tossed debris studded with spiralling contrails will hold no pleasure or solace for Fusillade tonight. The female EDC soldier's persistance pays off, and a shriek of crumpling and melting airframe greets the battlefield. Fusillade's tail is hot. As in on fire. Too hot for YOUR party, too hot to even EXIST. Another hail of fragged metal rains down on the warriors below, and an enraged howl, Fusillade pulls off to the best of her abilities. "I am NOT done! NO!" Anger contorts her alto voice, but the distance she begins putting between herself and the charred line of placements is too large for it to be another line up for a bombing run. Her precious skies were soon to be pinned by the harsh picket fence of flak. Fusillade begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Scattershot, F-35B , Pyramid Jet (Fleet), A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock), EDC AF-27 . Commander Shockwave says, "Status." Earthscorch says, "All of beta wing is retreating, it seems and I soon will be forced to as well. Unfortunately I have had to waste my time dealing with a Junkion, while unable to contribute to the mission, substantially." Recoil coughs up energon over the channel. Fusillade says, "Too damaged to pursue primary objective.� Pulling wide to wait at secondary theatre point." Catechism says, "Sir, I am still in action." Commander Shockwave says, "Commander Soundwave, I expect a prompt sanitization of this frequency." Commander Shockwave says, "Status of enemy weapon emplacements." Trooper Fleet says, "I can only take one more shot of the sort Sludge has been dishing out, sir." Trooper Fleet says, "Some are gone, others are still there. I've been trying to draw the fire of the more dangerous forces." Bonecrusher says, "I've been trashing what I can, but those Dinobots keep getting in the way!" Fusillade pauses as she does a tally. "All constructed and completed emplacements were liquidated. Disposition of incomplete emplacements unknown. Recoil somehow both missed Rodimus and ended up on his feet after his failed fistly charge at Rodimus. The Chosen One, in turn, makes Recoil suffer the wrath of his mistake by bashing the hell out of the back of the seeker's head, sending him sprawling to the cybertron beneath him. His optics flicker momentarily as he tries to imagine what just happened, and to make sense of it. Alas, when a fiery orange and yellow Autobot leader has knocked you senseless, it's probably not the best time to start philosophizing. He pushes himself from his stomach to his back, kicks his legs back and in an instant is on his feet again, now with fire-breathing action courtesy of his... mouth. Recoil strikes Rodimus Prime with Flaming Yark. Broadcast steps back and takes a moment to reattach various pieces and parts of his body... F-35B visibly sags, losing altitude. Well, she certainly failed to distract that human from picking on the bomber. Now, she can be petty and go after that human pilot, or she can suck it up and go after what's left of those blasted artillery emplacements to take out the unfinished ones. Hydraulic whining a protest, she steers herself towards the unfinished hydraulics for a strafing run. The cause is greater than momentary revenge. Commander Shockwave says, "New orders." Catechism says, "I shall attempt to remove some of the unfinished emplacements, sir." Commander Shockwave says, "All units, regroup at Polyhex." Trooper Fleet somehow manages to /not/ sound relieve. "As you command, sir." Bonecrusher says, "Roger that, sir!" Catechism erks and quickly amends, "...as ordered, sir." Sludge brings one arm up to shield himself from the rocket, while stretching the other out to try and snag Fleet's wing as the seeker veers off. A snarled (no pun intended) wing should hamper the seeker's progress. It is obvious to Broadcast that the attacks and this battle are going to be a tough call of who is the bigger threat and who is not. He allows the mini-missiles to scrap his fresh coat of paint as he picks up some twisted bits of metal and grins slightly. "Heh, my yellow jumpsuit just got toasted..." He begins to fix himself and looks for what is next to deal with. <> Within the EDC AF-27 , Rose Washburn is a lot of things, merciful being one of them. The Bomber is fleeing the field, her job there done. Heeling off the backside of the crippled plane she barks, "Angels! Report in!" checking 4 o'clock high to make sure her wingmate is still with her. She swings around hard to get after another of the ground harrassing jets, the one she already planted a rocket into, "You're next." she states flatly, the axis mounted laser charging for another blast as she attempts to lock onto Catechism's engines. Sludge strikes Pyramid Jet (Fleet) with Gotcha!. Tyrannosaurus Rex has a mouthful of -some- part of Bonecrusher when the Constructicon pulls away. Hopefully it's something important. He dosen't get a chance to savor it however, as the Constructicon's body slams into him a moment later, right under his chin and snapping his jaws shut harshly, sending bits of green armor flying everywhere as he loses his 'prize'...and a tooth on top of it. "Nnghf...!" he exclaims, twisting on the spot and abruptly bringing his huge tail about in an attempt to quite simply and without finesse...slam the little green man to the ground. EDC AF-27 strikes F-35B with Laser. Tyrannosaurus Rex strikes Bonecrusher with Blow. A flaming yark? it's a good think Rodimus is already a lovely shade of red and orange paint, although that is scorched slightly by Recoil's yak-attack. Rodimus is stunned momentarily, that isn't exactly an attack he expected, or has ever seen from a robot form before. "Interesting." He says with a smile, raising his rifle in his left hand and firing off a snapshot toward Recoil's chest. Nothing too powerful, just a small reminder. "But maybe you should lay off the Taco Mac food for a few days, before it melts your insides." The muzzle of the rifle glows briefly before discharging a single bolt of blue energy toward the seeker. Hoverjet fiddles with his radio as he lays down the suppression (such as it is) on Broadcast, though it is invisible to people not on the channel. Responding, perhaps, to some unseen orders, he suddenly begins flying toward Polyhex. "Another time, Junkion!" Earthscorch begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from F-35B , Pyramid Jet (Fleet), B-1B Lancer, A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock), EDC AF-27 . Pyramid Jet (Fleet) screams in pain as Sludge crumples his wing like tinfoil, and it's all he can do to keep his nose up and away from the ground. His first instinct at this point is to run away, but then he gets new orders, which are to... run away! Well. Now not only does Fleet get to survive, he also gets to follow orders while doing it. That's one thing that's gone right today. Fleet begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from F-35B , B-1B Lancer, EDC AF-27 . Bonecrusher dives out of the way of Grimlock before the Dinobot can give him another tailsmack like the one he just received, and takes to the air. "Another time, you ugly toothy monster!" he taunts. After all, he's only leaving because of orders, not running away, oh no! Bonecrusher begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Foxfire, Hoverjet, Recoil, Shockwave, F-35B , Pyramid Jet (Fleet), B-1B Lancer, A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock), Sludge, EDC AF-27 , Tyrannosaurus Rex, Rodimus Prime. After the plethora of nutritional and medical advice administered by Prime, Recoil's optics get this glazed over kind of look. 'Have I been fighting Shockwave or Hook without realizing it?', he wonders. Those are the only two who he seems to recall having heard such admonitions from before. The glazed over look is quickly replaced with something more closely resembling 'tortured' as Recoil accepts the "warning shot" to the dead center of his absominal region. Both arms clasp immediately over the energoning wound as his knees weaken ever so slowly. The caps touch as he doubles over, the equivilent to having the wind knocked out of him overwhelming him for the moment. Certainly not his brightest hour to be sure. He squints the pain away from his kneeled position, then chances a quick glance around. With the other Decepticons retre... regrouping... now seems like a good time to join them. He supports himself up with a hand to the ground, then weakly transforms. "Another day..." he can't even call loud enough for anyone of note to hear him. Probably better that way, in fact. How do you gloat when you made no difference either way? The most arrogant among us could not spin such a situation. The plainitive wails of woefully ill-equipped soldiers ringing within his sensor plates, Shockwave's intended murdering of Michael Briar is postponed until another engagement. He swings his heavy arm, knocking the Glaive aside as he moves for Polyhex.. Shockwave initiates his transformation procedures to fold into an enormous flying laser gun. Shockwave begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Hoverjet, F-35B , Pyramid Jet (Fleet), B-1B Lancer, A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock), EDC AF-27 . Recoil transforms into a large F-15 seeker. Recoil begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from F-35B , Pyramid Jet (Fleet), B-1B Lancer, EDC AF-27 . F-35B has been ordered out of here. So out of here she goes, casting a loathing glance at the human-piloted jet as she goes. It is not the hatred of equals but the same ire that is seen when a human is brought low by an insect via a freak allergic reaction. This is not the natural order of things, and someday, the balance will be corrected. Mostly with a rocket up the tailpipe of the human-piloted jet. Visions of future Decepticon victory dancing in her head, the F-35B high-tails it out of there, pieces of her tailfins falling off as she does. Stupid lasers. Catechism begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from F-15 Seeker, Pyramid Jet (Fleet), B-1B Lancer, A-10 Thunderbolt (Cinderblock), EDC AF-27 . Dipping the broad surfaces of her remaining wing surfaces, Fusillade swings back around toward the emplacements, one last sour glint sweeping across her cockpit. Laboriously, the bomber begins to trundle through the air, hugging close to the ground as her rear continues to shimmy, threatening to pitch her nosecone first into the ground. Nose canards work and flex overtime to keep her stable. With only two of four engines operative, she lags far beind the other 'Cons. Oh, hey, there's Bonecrusher under her... The bomber continues to wordlessly limp back toward the regroup point in Polyhex. Sludge hangs in the sky for a moment, watching his foe as he turns tail and runs. He peers about, seeking a new opponent but sadly, finds none. They're all retreating. Crestfallen, he sinks down to the ground, landing rather lightly this time. "Decepticons run away, but me Sludge only start to fight." Within the EDC AF-27 , Rose Washburn watches as the Con Lines break just like that, a smug look on her face quickly evaporating as she looks towards the ground on a flyby. The smugness is replaced by concern, "Damn... the Artillery is a mess, we weren't fast enough scragging that bomber..." she then states, "Angel Squadron, form up." she then swings the fighter around in a long arc and settles it into a hover above the battlefield, just watching for the moment. Broadcast just begins to look for parts and lets Earthscorch go. "Bye bye, Elmoscorch..." He smiles and finds a chunkc of metal. "Sweet. I can fix this leak!" He starts putting parts of damaged and broken bits on to his body. Broadcast steps back and takes a moment to reattach various pieces and parts of his body... Rodimus stores his rifle as the Decepticons start to retreat, looking around at the destruction left in their wake. "Troopers! We need to get this scrap metal cleaned up and get the bridge secured for more artillery emplacements." Grimlock, Sludge, you two alright? Tyrannosaurus Rex transforms a moment later, rising up. He -could- blast at Bonecrusher as he retreats, but he kind of savors the image of the Constricon's backside as he leaves with the others. A brief check of his form shows a not insignifigant amount of damage...but he's been worse. Alot worse in fact. Grimlock tilts his head down and raises up, unfolding and twisting into robot mode. Grimlock hmphs towards Rodimus' direction. "Dinobots fight well." he states, gesturing towards Sludge's direction. "Cons need more firepower than that if want take down Grimlock and Sludge." Sludge brushes one hand across his torso, peering down at the minute scratches that decorate it, then at his arm, which displays a scorchmark, nothing significant. "Me Sludge not hurt, Decepticons not fight good." Foxfire makes it! But he's...late? Drat. Looking vaguely disappointed, the fox slows to a walk and wanders into the battlefield, ears twitching as he glances about. He stays silent, waiting for someone to notice him. Within the EDC AF-27 , Rose Washburn watches the scene below before emitting over external comms, "Still need support from Angel Squadron, Rodimus? We're at 50% on fuel, should be good for a few minutes if you need us." Forum The Decepticon Forum... the very layout of the area conjures up for you images of a glorious and vaunted past, replete with conquest and glory. Perhaps this was the intention of the designer, for everywhere you look, you are reminded of greatness. Statues of the heros of the ancient past line moving walkways that convey passengers swiftly to their destinations. Emboldened merchants offer their wares in the streets under the watchful eyes of units of Imperial troops as they march to and from their duties in perfect precision. Many famous architectural landmarks of the Decepticon Empire can be seen here...among them the the famous >Memorial Fountain< and >Victory Arch<. Hoverjet smoulders in the air. Hoverjet says, "Some fight out there, eh?" No immediate response comes from Fusillade. A shuddering groan of protest escapes her right wing as she tries to swing it backwards. "They are making a move against us. They are taking our skies." Without further discussion, she begins to limp back toward the designated aeembly area. Hoverjet says, "As you wish..." B-1B Lancer nearly veers into a building as she tries to dip into a playful barrel roll. "CRAP. No, it's just that..." She trails off. "It was good to see you." Hoverjet pauses as Fusillade flies around. "You did well. I wish I could have done more. If we don't all die, there may be some medals to give out. If we survive." He continues to hover in place, rather awkwardly and unsteadily. Something snaps internally as Fusillade attempts to throttle back to better address the grey hovership. She mentally notes -- more talkative in alt mode... something she's done before in the past. There's a thin internal smile at the realization, before the large craft states, "We are performing duties we were not designed for, sir. We operate as best we can. There is only what must be done." Did those words just blurt out from her? Fusillade begins to mentally repeat the words, finding to her surprise that she does believe them. Hoverjet hears something go funny inside of Fusillade. "Eh, we don't have a medical facility here, do we? I believe you could use some repair work..." "There are some available, yes. I will avail myself. I would like to see others tended to first. Oh frak who am I kidding? It hurts like smelt. Like nanites are using my sensors and receptors for their introductory voodoo course." The plane then slips forward to the awaiting repair bay -- or launchpad, whatever can accept her bulk. Decepticon Message: 2/7..........Posted........Author Polyhex Placements....Wed Aug 10....Fusillade *text only, delivered from somewhere on the streets of Polyhex* This past cycle, Decepticons were alerted of a siginificant joint Autobot, Junkion, and EDC force in the Northern Crossroads area outside Polyhex. The group had started construction of a line of artillery placements, including flak cannons and munition catapaults. I managed to evade fire from the human Michael Briar and Sludge's sword, but the fighter craft designated 'Angel' proved to be more agile than the other units that provided cover fire for my runs. I was rendered unable to perform any longer, with engines 1 and 4 completely disabled, and the rear sixth of my fuselage detached along with my entire tail assembly. I was able to withdraw under my own power to the regroup point in Polyhex. Cinderblock managed to take out an artillery unit, and Catechism and Master Shockwave were mostly responsible for coverfire. I believe that units Fleet, Recoil, Earthscorch were present as well for cover fire, but I was focused on my main objective -- I apologize for missing any others. Additional operational details can be provided by other units. I was able to deliver two thirds of my payload, taking out the pre-constructed placements. I cannot comment on the disposition of any of the artillery line units on standby. It is unclear if there are replacements available or being constructed. Recommend that the area be monitored closely, and any newly placed units be destroyed with prejudice. They seek to deny us our skies. Trooper Fusillade, out. *end transmission*